India becomes PR’s proving ground for Havas

In 2023, Havas acquired PR Pundit, introducing Havas Red into India. So, when James Wright, global CEO of Havas Red and CEO of Havas Group ANZ, landed in Delhi recently after a 15-year gap, speculation arose over whether another acquisition was on the horizon.

Wright was quick to clarify. His visit was at the behest of Archana Jain, CEO of PR Pundit Havas Red, to spend time with the local team, understand the business on the ground, and speak at the PRAXIS conference.

“The opportunity to grow in India is phenomenal, and we’ve got such a great bedrock that we can be masters of our own destiny in terms of how big, and quickly, we want to move in this market,” Wright told Campaign in an exclusive interview.

Wright is juggling multiple responsibilities: running Havas Red globally, leading Havas Group ANZ, and shaping the company’s APAC strategy. For him, India is no longer an optional bet.

“India is probably the market that has come the furthest in the last 10 years in terms of global communications,” he observed. “It’s rapidly matured in quality of work, strategy, creative planning—going from humble beginnings to a genuine global player.”

He recalled when he first went to Cannes in 2014, maybe two Indian campaigns made the shortlist. Now there are so many. A case in point is Havas India securing a Gold award for the ‘Ink of Democracy’ campaign it crafted for The Times of India in the Print and Publishing category.

The global agency sees India as part of a four-market engine, alongside China, Australia and Japan, which powers the region. The group has begun moving talent from India into other parts of its network, underscoring its role as a talent hub.

Training for cultural nuance

For Wright, the enthusiasm among young professionals in India signals untapped potential. At lunch with some younger colleagues in Delhi, he was bemused when the former told him how much they like it the agency, working on wonderful brands and getting paid to come up with ideas for clients over coffee.

“It’s amazing that they can actually shape the fortunes of client brands through their thinking,” Wright said. Operating across APAC requires sensitivity to regional complexity. He emphasised the importance of structured learning.

James Wright spent time with Havas' local team to understand the business on the ground. Image source: Linkedin.

This is where Havas University plays a key role. Here, employees can access an extensive library of courses and certifications, from strategy and innovation to AI and creative storytelling.

It also runs programs like HavasNextGen, a year-long leadership track for 20-30 high-potential leaders who meet every quarter. “We also offer a bespoke five-day program covering design thinking, emerging tech, or cultural understanding,” Wright explained.

Much of the learning, he said, still comes through ‘osmosis’—absorbing knowledge from colleagues across markets. “If you can understand people, behaviours, and the challenges brands face, you’ll get noticed in PR. It’s one of those industries where opportunistic talent thrives,” Wright added.

Archana Jain, CEO, PR Pundit Havas Red told Campaign that India has built complementary initiatives. Alongside Havas University, her teams join external training through industry associations.

“This year, we also started a reverse mentoring program. Younger employees coach seniors on digital habits—like navigating Reddit or using Canva. It’s helped bridge the generational gap and even reduced attrition,” she said.

Archana Jain, CEO, PR Pundit Havas Red.

Budgets flow East

With Western markets stalling, Asia and MENA are drawing more client investment. Wright believes India and Southeast Asia will continue to attract PR and marketing budgets over the next two years, given their large consumer bases and fragmented markets.

“India is a series of micro markets. Companies entering need strategic guidance—how to launch a brand, handle workforce issues, or respond to challenges. Agencies must provide objectivity, creativity, and strategic thinking. That’s never been more important,” he said.

Wright noted that global PR has shown steady growth even as advertising and media fluctuate. The reason: companies are grappling with multiple crises and stakeholders at once, from geopolitical instability to reputational risks, and require advisory depth rather than just campaign execution.

Economic uncertainty is reshaping client decisions across APAC. Wright pointed to a notable trend: budgets shifting from China to India.

“China’s been too hard and too closed for a while. It’s reopening, but there are bigger and easier opportunities to make your dollar work harder in India,” he said.

For Havas, this means balancing growth with cost discipline, ensuring resources flow to markets where clients see clear returns. So how does the global agency decide which markets deserve deeper bets?

Wright outlined a couple of filters—strategic and then geographic needs. If there’s a gap in the agency’s footprint, that’s a trigger. Then there’s client demand—sometimes they need the company to be in-market to serve their APAC base.

In India, all three applied. “Clients needed support, we had no presence, and the creative potential was significant,” Wright revealed. That logic has guided both organic expansion and acquisitions, with India’s scale making it a clear priority.

Agencies at a crossroads

As per a global report, PR grew nearly 6% last year, yet more than 20% of top agencies reported revenue declines. What explains the divergence?

“The biggest problem with large agencies is bureaucracy and legacy costs,” Wright argued. “Senior people with big salaries, processes that slow decision-making. At some point the numbers don’t add up. That’s why we’ve seen mergers forced together.”

Arpana Kumar Ahuja, Jindal Steel's EVP and head of corporate brand and communications, in a fireside chat with Havas' James Wright at PRAXIS 2025.

Havas, he noted, avoided this trap by consolidating its own operations early. Wright recalled merging Red Agency Australia, Havas Sydney, Havas People Australia, Arnold Furnace and Havas Melbourne into a streamlined network while retaining agility.

“If something isn’t working, we’ll rip it up and start again. We double down where we see potential. Clients come to us because they’re desperate for a new idea but don’t want to get lost in the homogeny of a huge agency,” he said.

Part of Havas’ approach has been owning the earned media space and expanding into owned media as social platforms turn brand announcements into news. Wright added that the company is “tripling down” on influencer and social content while investing heavily in AI.

Havas has pledged €400 million through 2027 for AI-enabled tools across targeting, analytics, decisioning, content personalisation and creative production. “That’s the next frontier—automating parts of the agency so we spend more time on strategy and creative thinking,” Wright said.

From storytelling to story living

The backdrop to all this is growing scepticism toward both media and brands. For Wright, authentic, measurable impact is no longer about purpose statements or campaign awards.

According to him, there’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there, which is often picked up through mobile phones. Havas’ role is to help clients cut through. We’re moving away from storytelling to story living—helping brands and stakeholders live and experience things better,” he said.

Communities, particularly younger ones, are shaping how trust travels. Wright pointed to online fandoms around Minecraft or the Barbie movie as examples of cultural momentum that brands must learn to navigate.

Havas Red’s recent work with Tourism Fiji illustrates the shift. In April 2025, it launched the Loloma Hour campaign, which the company claims is the world’s first ‘happy hour for the environment’. Instead of cocktails, travellers could spend an hour on conservation efforts during their stay.

“This was based on insights that families wanted to do sustainable tourism experiences together. Rather than storytelling about sustainable tourism, travellers to Fiji are living this story,” Wright said.

The campaign reframed ‘happy hour’ as cultural and environmental action, embedding brand messaging into lived experiences rather than transactional communication.

For Havas, India is a growth market, a talent hub, and a proving ground for narrative-first strategies. But the wider industry faces a harder question: can PR maintain its steady growth when scepticism is rising and budgets are shifting?

The answer may lie in how agencies balance agility with scale, cost discipline with investment, and storytelling with lived brand experiences. Wright’s bet is that markets like India, powered by local nuance and global reach, will be at the centre of that experiment.

Whether the industry can sustain that momentum, however, will depend less on agency conviction than on how effectively clients—and their audiences—choose to live those stories.